Do You Dream of a Jurassic World, Too?

There is a constant rumble in the air. Isla Nublar, the last residences of modern dinos, are once more on the verge of extinction…again. There is a great debate going on whether the residents of Jurassic World should be saved or by an act of God face their long awaited fate.

Imagine a world where men and dinosaurs have been a little more than neighbors. It has been a rocky road bringing the old order into the modern scheme of things. Some people like Claire and Zia are fighting to save these majestic creatures. Others like Mills and Dr. Wu are looking at making money off the sale and weaponizing, while a few like Owen are staying out of the whole political mess. But like Dr. Malcom stated before a court hearing, things are course correcting and we are all affected by the fate of modern dinosaurs.

When it all comes rumbling, exploding, roaring, a screaming down, we are all taken back to where this lofty experiment started. Mr. Hammond the visionary of Jurassic Park is gone, but his altruistic partner, Mr. Lockwood is still keeping their dream alive with his last dying breath. He laments that life is about hard choices and ones that not everyone is going to agree on. They made a lot of choices that weren’t always thought all the way through. Now, a monstrous sized can of worms is opened, served up with the side dishes of regret and guilt. What two boys dreamed up in an innocent love of dinosaurs, became a nightmare when too many people with their own personal agendas came knocking on their door. Owen, Clair, and Lockwood’s granddaughter Maisie, now clearly see both sides to the idea of resurrecting dinos. No one is innocent or disconnected from this issue. The red button has been pushed and the consequences of everyone’s actions are coming home for good.

As we watched the film as a family we knew there would be tough scenes to watch. My daughter actually was avoiding it because she didn’t want to see the dinosaurs die. She did console herself with the fact that Chris Pratt and Jeff Goldblum were going to be in the picture. I will admit that it did get to me on lots of levels. It’s hard to see dreams die and people face hard choices and consequences. Seeing the dinosaurs is a childhood desire and like the characters I would have been caught up in the magic of interacting with them( ah, most of them). When the greedy guys hungry for money got eaten by their own creations, it seemed fitting. When Maisie took a step of faith and released the dinos from death into the world, I had mixed feelings.

The truth is we live in a fallen kingdom. This is not what life was intended for man nor beast. What gives me great comfort is the fact that this is not how the story ends up. The Bible does tell us that at the renewal of all things Christ will sit upon His throne. Did you hear that? The renewal of all things. Are all things going to be made new? Even dinosaurs? If T-Rex big hungry grin is flashing in your mind, don’t worry. The lion lays down with the lamb, they will all eat plants not meat. So, the carnivore is buddy-buddy with the herbivore? I think so.

As things pass away I realize it’s being saved for a better future time. So the past can really become part of our future after all. I sit back and realize that the real issue we face as humans is ourselves. The real reason things are a mess is our own fallen nature. Here is the beauty though, we get that second chance because of God’s grace. So, that hope of a better tomorrow in a perfect world isn’t so far-fetched at all.